This wasn't going well. That much Chuck could tell, mainly by the distant way Lawrence was behaving. It wasn't like his brother had been the warmest of people even when they were children, but he usually didn't close himself off completely in this way.

Chuck frowned, wondering if there was any means by which to get through to him. He had to; if anyone was going to be able to knock some sense into Lawrence, it would be him. But he realized brute force wouldn't be enough to get him through something like this.

"Of course," he said, forcing out the words with every ounce of sincerity he had. "You're my brother, aren't you? And I should have seen the signs, I should have known that something was wrong. I only hope we can fix it somehow." He stared down at his hands, feeling so very useless. It wasn't something he'd experienced much in his life, admittedly, and he didn't like how it felt now.